Evaluating the Relationship between Nurses’ Problem-Solving Skills and Automatic Thoughts

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between nurses’ problem-solving skills and automatic thoughts. METHODS: This study was conducted as descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational study between August and December 2016. The sample of the study comprised 112 nurses working at a training and research hospital. The Problem Solving Inventory, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and a sociodemographic form prepared by the researchers were used to gather the data. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 20.0. RESULTS: It was found that problem-solving, approach-avoidance, and personal control skills of nurse managers were higher than those of clinical nurses (p<.05). The nurses who thought that nursing was not an appropriate profession for themselves and said that they were not satisfied with their profession had higher levels of automatic thought (p<.01). There was a positive and significant low correlation between the scores obtained by the nurses from the Problem Solving Inventory and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (rs=0.259, p<.01). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study showed that nurses’ problem-solving skills were affected by working in the position of manager and by automatic thoughts about their profession. It is thought that practices to increase nurses’ problem-solving skills and to reduce their automatic thoughts about their professions will be beneficial.